Good point, Matt. I can't even believe that a newspaper published something about the finances of a family whose daughter just died. That is sub-human. Why would a journalist abuse a family like that? What does reporting the finances of that family have to do with the story anyway? Relevance. Humanity should always come first. If success means throwing innocent people under the bus, journalists should count themselves out. The victims of crimes are off-limits.
I would also venture to say that even the accused have the same rights. If a man allegedly killed a child, it does not give a newspaper the right to tell people that last year he did not pay his taxes. This information is unrelated, not to mention, should not be public. And what if it turns out that the man was framed? Not only did this not have anything to do with the story in the first place, but also people know his business on top of him being publically humiliated. This, folks, is why we all need to think before we write.
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The one thing I really like about Haiman’s book is how he uses good journalism to describe journalism. By that I mean he finds really good quotes from people who are qualified to have a specific opinion in order to get his point across. This example of a man who lost his daughter sharing how he and many other victims of crime and the media responded to the media thrusting a mike in their faces is very real. It’s well put, to the point, and very true. If your daughter was murdered, of course you aren’t going to give the best quotes. This is why the news is riddled with people giving quotes like “She was the nicest girl” and “I don’t understand why anyone would do this to our [fill in the blank].” These feelings are natural, but they aren’t really good quotes because they don’t say anything thousands of other people haven’t said already. It is the fact that broadcast journalists can get the victim’s parents to cry that really impresses the audience. The minute you see that loved one cry, you don’t think about what they’re saying, you pity them and thank the news for alerting you to the story. Print news works similarly. Although you cannot see the tears, you can still picture them.
You have to feel bad for journalists, though. (Well sort of. They know the job description.) It is their job to ask the tough questions that in normal life, you’d feel awkward asking a person. Nobody wants to ask a girl about her dying grandmother for fear you’d make the problem worse because grandma died last night and you didn’t know. This is why so many of us just don’t ask or ask a different question like “How are you doing?” hoping to get a response that would allow you to at least make an inference. Being sensitive and yet still getting the necessary information is an art form. This is why Haiman suggests training. Read about this on Josie’s blog.
“The public is particularly upset when it thinks the press is providing cover so someone can make an anonymous personal attack on another individual” (21).
I was wondering why one of the Associated Press’s rules is “The material [quoted in a story] must be information and not opinion, and not speculation, and it must be essential to the story” (21). I was thinking what if a person wanted to say something against someone who could make his life heck if that person wanted to? Obviously, that person would not want to put his neck on the line for your story and it would be wrong for you to publish it. But also, what if that person is lying? He could use your newspaper to try to defame a person secretly. If you suspect that person’s opinion to be true and newsworthy, then follow it up. Try to get someone to go on record with that opinion or go straight to the source like Haiman’s example about Maureen Reagan being her father’s campaign manager. An anonymous source tipped the reporter off that this might be true and the reporter ended up being able to confirm the information when (s)he was lucky enough to run into Maureen Reagan herself (20).
So the basic lesson that I learned from this is if I ever get a source that wishes to remain anonymous yet the information that person gives me is newsworthy, I can either try to persuade that person to let me attach their name to that quote or use the tip as a stepping stone to a better source. How hard could that be? Ha ha.
"Many members of the public expressed considerable empathy for the workload and pressures that reporters face and the mental and emotional tolls that kind of life can exact. But they do not believe this should exempt the newspaper from cleaning up its messes promptly and fully…Seeing as many errors as they do, the public would like to see many more corrections and clarifications" (Haiman 13).
The public wants to see that the newspaper is holding themselves accountable for their own mistakes. Think of a newspaper as one body, one very informed person. This is what it technically is. The people can visit this “person” in order to find out most of the things he/she would want to know about public life. The newspaper tells people the weather, what time movies are playing, what is going on in their communities, what is going on in their nation, the latest trends, etc. It’s one-stop shopping.
But what happens if this one person sometimes lies to you? Most human beings do not being lied to because it diminishes our ability to trust the person who lied. If you think of every mistake in the paper as a little (or big) lie, it puts the public’s demand for recognition of this lie in perspective. If you are knowingly lied to, it helps if the person tells the truth as soon as possible. This inability to keep the lie a secret humbles that person and shows us that he/she can admit fault.
This is all the public wants. They know that most people lie or at least unintentionally don’t get the facts straight. They just want to see the round-about apology for this error. The fact that some papers make a habit out of calling attention to their shortcomings shows this and makes those papers more trustworthy. In fact, people probably like to see that the paper makes mistakes because all people do. It is human nature to err so to get everything right 100% of the time would be creepy not to mention unnatural.
I found this quote particularly striking. I never really thought of the editorial as a way of expressing an informed disagreement but that’s just what it is. You don’t simply say, “This is stupid” and then continue to list all of the ways that it is dumb. Instead you question why there is a certain problem i.e. the increase in the prices of salads. Another example would be if Iwrote an entire editorial on the dead cockroach in the bathroom located on third floor Maura. Then instead of listing all of the reasons why this is repulsive (including that this means that they are likely in the dorms in Lowe and Canevin) isn’t simply enough or overkill. Instead you would strive to find out why our school has this semi-secret cockroach infestation. What is being done to cure the problem? Do they know the problem exists? I could interview maintenance about this issue to get some real answers.
Then I can even go on to say that I have heard (list a specific name) that other schools have cockroach issues as well. I’ve heard that our school’s foil has cockroaches. Possibly, as gross as it sounds, it is an inevitable fact. You have these big, beautiful buildings. People are not the only ones that find them attractive. There are tons of tiny places that we do not inhabit that they can make use of. Possibly, I could even write about cockroaches in general. What makes them tick? This could possibly shed even more light on the situation. Every crack and crevice of colleges and universities cannot be cleaned like a house can be cleaned because there are large storage facilities that make excellent homes for creepy-crawlies.
Because I kind of got away from the topic I want to make clear what I’m trying to say. Editorials are for making a claim about something but then saying why you feel this way. It’s meant to persuade not belittle. Possibly by the time I would get done writing my hypothetical article I would discover that cockroaches are just a part of life that we all have to learn to deal with.
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Conclusion
From Day 1 and Day 2 of our news activity, I’ve learned that the news surprisingly doesn’t always follow up. As I remarked in day 2, I don’t really understand why the story about the crash in Penn Hills does not have any new developments being that the news this week hasn’t been incredibly exciting. Of course, I have a little bias because I may or may not know the people involved. But seriously, why does this story not have new developments? Is it a confidentiality issue? I doubt it. It seems to me that the people involved (I know at least one of the names even though the article does not provide this information) are old enough that sharing information would be fine. Maybe the newspaper just forgot about the story, but I doubt this. I’m sure they are incredibly organized at the Post-gazette. Overall, I have no idea why this crash did not make the news again because as far as I know, the injuries sustained were pretty serious. It wasn’t like the people involved just got concussions or something.
The second story was a little less serious but had a greater range of interest. This is why, I think, that it has a follow up. I’m sure that in days to come there will be more updates. They just haven’t come out yet because the vaccine hasn’t been out long enough. With this story, the newsworthiness is much higher than the other one because it affects many people.
Although I did not really get to see much of a story unfold in my examples, I have seen it happen in the past. I remember when the Seton Hill student was shot in the standoff. I kept on checking the internet for the latest updates. At first only the fact that a standoff was in the process was reported. Then it came out that the person involved was shot by the police. Last, the stories about the student came out. People who knew him speculated what could have caused this to happen and so forth. The stories get progressively longer and phrases like “no other details are available at this time” disappear.
Check out other’s examples of unfolding news stories
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"Allegheny River Boulevard reopens"
Surprisingly, nothing else was disclosed about the Penn Hills story. I scoured Post-gazette.com to no avail. I was really surprised by this because the initial story really leaves you wanting more. It indicates that the details are unknown and it seems logical that the next step is to acquire the names of the victims and the cause of the accident amongst other things. And it’s not like it’s a fast news week.
We’ve learned that stories often get bumped because they aren’t important enough as compared to some of the other breaking stories. However, there seems like there hasn’t been too many compelling news stories this week (which is good in general but bad for this assignment). Now I’m starting to understand the sick fixation that journalists have with bad things happening. It’s better for them, as bad as it sounds, for bad things to happen because it gives them interesting things to write about. I’ve noticed that one of my classmates, Kaitlin Monier, had the same problem with this story.
"Patience urged in getting flu shots"
As for my second story, there has been an update. As I had anticipated, people are getting worried that they will not get the shot. In this article, the news is doing what it does best, inciting panic. We talked about this in class, mainly having to do with broadcast news, but here the newspaper makes use of the same techniques. As far as I can tell from this article, Allegheny County still had not received any vaccinations, yet.
*Check out Day 1 here.
*Check out my conclusion of the activity on Day 3.
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I chose to follow two stories that I thought would definately have a follow up story.
"Allegheny River Boulevard reopens"
On Sunday, I got a text from my friend from high school asking if I knew some kid. She continued to say how he was in a terrible car accident. As I scoured my memory to see if I could recall him in any way, I thought about this assignment. I looked on Post-gazette.com and sure enough, there was a breaking news article. It’s short and states that there was an accident and injuries were involved. The headline, however, was that the road was reopening. I thought this headline was a little cold, almost as if to say, “These people crashed their car on a busy road which was an inconvenience to us all. Thank God it’s open again.” But, I do think the reason for this headline is just to report the facts. The newspaper is trying not to speculate too much at this early stage, so instead they are just reporting the straight fact that the road is now open. I look forward to the new developments on this story that are sure to come.
"State gets first doses of swine flu vaccine"
My second story is about the state receiving the H1N1 virus vaccination. I figure that as the vaccination spreads out all over the state, especially in our area, there will be follow-ups telling us about the people who get it, possibly the rush to get it (the lines). In this article, Allegheny County (the county in which I live and the news paper is based) had not received any doses of the vaccine.
*Check out the new developments of Day 2 on my next blog
*Skip the middle and go straight to the conclusion.
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Font can convey, like body language, an attitude depending on how it moves. The masthead print of the Chicago Tribune is very official-looking. The font has an old style to it as if to convey that they’ve been around and have enough experience so you can trust them. The main stories on this newspaper all use a font similar to Times New Roman that has seraphs on it. Fonts with seraphs, as Dr. Jerz revealed during the first week of school, are fancier and usually convey a more serious message. Although “Breaking down the Bears’ victory over Seattle” still has the seraphs (because to the sports fan, football is a serious subject), notice that the font is more blockish and gray. It’s a bit more playful because the story does not carry the same weight as say “Fear, grief as classes resume at Fenger.” Thanks for making me think, Derek! (Here I use script in order to convey my sincere thanks to you.)
]]>1) The front page from the West Hawaii Today was fantastic and bad at the same time. I think the bottom half of the front, or “below the fold” as Dr. Jerz told us during probably the first week of school, is the great part. I especially like the whale hopping out of the picture and into the newspaper print. However, I do not think the story and picture “‘Onday’ Leaves More Than 100 Dead, Missing” belongs above the masthead. I think this looks extremely tacky. It takes everything the editors did to make the whale picture so awesome and negates it.
2) Daily News “New York’s number one newspaper” does have a nice photo on the front with a LOT of color, which of course immediately catches the eye. You can see all of the little champagne droplets spraying all over Derek Jeter. It's a magical photo. One of those ones that only comes along every so often. Notice how the weather is still present in the upper left-hand corner.
3) Daily News from Los Angeles (original name huh?) is quite nice. I like how the editors Photoshopped President Obama’s face into the picture. This all worked nicely with the whole “Operation Health Care” directly above it. This is a great way to take a picture that would not normally have a visual and give it one. It is also interesting how the picture does not have a clearly defined bottom; instead it fades into the article itself. The pictures on the bottom of the page are just ok though, leaving the visual appeal entirely up to the picture above.
4) Duluth News Tribune’s page made me laugh a little. The pictures are great, all of them. The thing that I found so funny is the fact that the way the pictures are laid out looks like Mickey Mouse’s head. You have the ears (the two sports pictures), the face (the picture of the inside of the house), and the tongue (the family posing in their newly renovated home). I usually like when things are symmetrical, but this time I don't think it works.
So what did all of these front pages have in common? The answer is bits of texts, but not too much. The story isn’t what is important. Yes, it’s what the people will read but if you walk by a newspaper vender selling two papers (and you have no personal preference as to which one you will read), it is human nature to go for the one that is more aesthetically appeasing. The stories are secondary on the front page. Also, I thought that the newspapers that had the Masthead near the very top or somehow integrated into the picture (2) worked better. It looked tacky the further down the masthead got. The most important thing is COLOR!
From Cappon’s The Associated Press Guide to News Writing:
1) “The furthest you can go is to fix minor grammatical errors and omit pure padding or meaningless repetition” (66).
I’ve often wondered this about quotes. Now I know that you can fix a person’s grammar, but just don’t take it too far.
2) “Good quotes should summarize what’s on a person’s mind, crystallize an emotion or attitude or offer an individual perspective of some sort—preferably in a concise and interesting way” (66).
Quotes are all about the person. Their opinion is what is supposed to be captured because, as the writer of the article, you can’t put in your opinion. You need to put some sort of emotion in for the audience to relate to while still being objective. A simple fact isn’t quotable because it’s known. If you want to say that someone informed you of a certain truth, there is no need to quote them. Paraphrase them instead.
3) “But an ellipsis is seldom required in the ordinary run of conversational and interview quotes, which readers know to be excerpts anyway” (70).
I was wondering about this. When I was interviewing people for my spot article, I would fall behind when they were speaking. I either had to ask them to repeat or I just let go of what they said all together because they elaborated a lot more than I’d ever put in an article. In the places where I lost them which occurred at the ends of sentences, I would put an ellipsis and pick up again. I guess Cappon is saying that I don’t need to do that. (Correct me if I’m wrong.) Also, if my interviewee says something before what I end up quoting, an ellipsis isn’t necessary. What a nice little trick!
4) “You can also skew a quote by converting a long, involved question into the subject’s answer:
Reporter: Do you feel the verdict was wrong, that it was a gross miscarriage of justice?
A: Well, yes.
Copy: He said he ‘felt that the verdict was wrong and a gross miscarriage of justice.’”(73)
Now to me, this doesn’t feel right. I get the point in doing it but it just seems like a dirty little trick to get people to say what you want them to say. This means that if you ever talk to a reporter you better make sure you listen to their questions.
1) “The proposals have drawn criticism from Golden Gate regulars such as Tom Nuckton.
The University of California San Francisco Medical Center doctor regularly visits the botanical gardens to decompress after long hospital shifts and write in his notebook. He said if there were a fee to visit the gardens, he’d just find somewhere else to relax. “
This may be a picky English major thing but I do not agree with the way she has split these paragraphs. The first paragraph references a park regular Tom Nuckton. It almost seems as though the reader should know who he is. This brings to my mind the whole, “When in doubt, cut it out” saying. The sentence does not need to identify Nuckton instead just concluding after the word “regulars.” Also, the way it is, it takes the reader a few seconds to realize that Nuckton and “The University of California San Francisco Medical Center doctor” are the same person. If the name had been left out of the first paragraph as I suggested and moved to this paragraph it would be much clearer.
To me it seems more likely that people would be more likely to read Matthew Baker’s article:
2) “Steve Zadig’s auto racing career had never been higher, but his passion for the sport had never been lower.”
Now this is interesting. Someone who is good at something and hates it intrigued me and I’m guessing many other readers as well. Immediately, I was curious as to why a fellow who is prospering would hate what he was doing. Then we find out Zadig is “a man who perfects his patent on clean wave energy Monday through Friday” but is harmful to the environment on the weekend. The rest of the paragraphs fall nicely to support what this man did to clean his conscience (no pun intended). The only thing I thought was missing was an interview with some of his fellow racers commenting about the switch. This would enhance the credibility of Baker’s claims. (This is one thing House did very well is include statements from numerous people who are affected by the issue she writes about.)
“State police said the man sprayed Mr. O'Neil with pepper spray and attempted to grab the the deposit bags.
Mr. O'Neil fought back. State police said he struck the assailant, who then began to run away. Mr. O'Neil gave chase but the unknown man was picked up by someone in a silver or gray vehicle described by police as a "hatchback-type SUV." The vehicle fled the scene.”
So I know that I’m not perfect. I have a hard time wrapping my head around directions like a breaking news crime story is “filed quickly, and free of errors” (Jerz). But I’m obviously not the only one with problems in this department. According to AP Style, titles such as Mr. or Dr. are to be left off. I could see slipping once, but three times as in this story is quite a lot for a professional. Also, the mistake with “the” is a little bad, especially being that once plugged into Microsoft Word, the problem becomes apparent because it is jaggedly underlined in red.
2.From “Plea deal reached in Jeannette enslavement, kidnap case”:
“The Tribune-Review does not name alleged victims of sexual assault.”
I’m sure that most people know that these days, we have issues with confidentiality. It is an invasion of privacy to name a victim of sexual assault because being assaulted, especially in a sexual manner, would be embarrassing.
April Minerd also found a few mistakes in these articles. Check out her blog.
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“Always try to tell a crime story in human terms. Do not concentrate all the time on the police or the criminals. Look at what has happened to the victim. Your readers or listeners are more likely to be victims of crime than they are to be either police officers or criminals.”
I had never really thought about this before but it is true. Usually, the focus is on the victim of the crime. As we talked about in class and online, it’s all about the emotions. If someone can report that the victim cried as they talked about their house being burned to the ground, it is more newsworthy. The newspaper would mention that the cause of the fire was arson and someone has been taken into custody by a police officer, but it is doubtful that either the policeman or suspected arsonist would be focused on. The importance lies in relatability. It seems that the more relatable a story is, the more newsworthy it is. Of course, something big has to happen. Obviously, “Angela brushes her teeth” isn’t news. But most people can relate to the loss of a loved one.
I do recognize that the opposite is also true. Sometimes the completely unrelatable makes the news as well. If say an alien spaceship came to Louisville, Kentucky and abducted 30 farmers on one night, I may read it just because it’s completely bizarre. I can’t relate to being abducted by aliens but it sure makes for an interesting story.
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